Synthesis of Cu2+ and Ag+ doped Na2Ti3O7 by a facile ion-exchange method as visible-light-driven photocatalysts

Nano-sized Cu2+ and Ag+ doped sodium trititanate (Na2Ti3O7) were prepared by a facile acid-free ion-exchange method in an aqueous solution at room temperature. All the samples were characterized by TGA, FESEM, EDS, Powder-XRD, UV–visible DRS and FT-IR spectroscopic methods. Both Cu2+ and Ag+ doped Na2Ti3O7 were crystallized in monoclinic lattice with P21/m space group. The band gap energies of all the samples were deduced from their UV–visible DRS profiles. Visible light-induced photocatalytic oxidation of the methylene blue (MB) dye has been examined in the presence of all the trititanates aqueous dispersion. The Ag+ doped trititanate exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity in the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light irradiation. Photochemical degradation of cyclohexa-1,4-diene and phenol also were examined in presence of these titanates.